Boulton exit leaves supporters searching

Early on, Nate Boulton got a lot of Iowa's labor unions behind him.

Both public and private sector unions enthusiastically jumped on board to support the young Des Moines lawyer and state senator.

But now that Boulton has suspended his campaign in the aftermath of sexual misconduct allegations, those unions that typically have been influential voices in Democratic politics are without a candidate. And with less than two weeks before the June 5 primary, it may be getting too late to direct members to another choice.

Some won't even try.

AFSCME Council 61, the state's largest public-sector union, was an early Boulton supporter. But given its endorsement process, spokeswoman Mazie Stilwell said that 'we do not believe it is possible to make another endorsement in the primary.”

Instead, in a statement supporting Boulton's decision to suspend his campaign, AFSCME Council 61 President Danny Homan, said, 'who to vote for has always been and remains each AFSCME member's personal choice.”

This was the second time in four years that an AFSCME-endorsed candidate for governor dropped out before the primary.

In 2014, former state Rep. Tyler Olson ended his campaign before the primary. AFSCME was able to switch its endorsement to state Sen. Jack Hatch. But in that case, Olson's exit from the race came months before the balloting began.

This time, more than 15,000 Democrats already have cast early ballots, according to a tally Thursday from the Secretary of State's Office, although who they voted for is confidential.

It was only last month that the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, endorsed Boulton.

Lance Coles, a spokesman for the union, said in an email Thursday its executive committee still could make another endorsement but members 'have not met to discuss this issue.”

Boulton had been running second in the six-person race for the Democratic nomination, with Des Moines businessman Fred Hubbell leading, according to a pair of recent public opinion polls.

The Des Moines Register's poll had Hubbell with 31 percent of the vote, just short of the 35 percent needed to win the primary without having to go to a special convention.

If he were to gain even a small number of Boulton supporters, which the Register poll put at 20 percent, Hubbell could get across the threshold.

Nearly a quarter of the likely primary voters said they were undecided, the Register poll said.

Hours before news of sexual misconduct allegations against Boulton broke Wednesday afternoon, Hubbell told the Quad-City Times editorial board that he thought he would get the 35 percent needed to win outright, something he's said frequently on the campaign trail.

Boulton had also won the endorsement of several of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate. As of Thursday afternoon, there was no sign yet of a significant shift to other candidates.

A prominent Boulton supporter in Scott County, Bev Strayhall, of Davenport, said she didn't know what she'd do.

'A lot of us have talked among each other. I don't feel like I'm ready to jump ship,” she said. But then, she added, 'the ship has sailed.”